A Certified Havana Silk Dog, on the other hand, is an entirely different kettle of fish!
A Certified Havana Silk Dog is a Havanese which has been registered with the Havana Silk Dog Association of America, a voluntary and independent group of Havanese breeders and owners dedicated to preserving the original looks, robust health, and temperament of the breed for the future. Most Silks are also registered with the AKC as Havanese.
(It is worth noting, perhaps, that many of the charter members of the HSDAA are the same breeders who optomistically ushered the Havanese into the AKC Toy Group back in 1999, and the current HSDAA Board of Directors includes no less than three past presidents of the Havanese Club of America as well as many former officers, Board members, and longtime committee chairs. The HSDAA Registry itself includes some of the top-winning and top-producing dogs in the Havanese breed and their progeny.)
In order to be certified with HSDAA, a dog must provide documentation (through OFA) that it is free of congenital deafness, hip dysplasia, patellar luxation, and heritable eye disease, as well as a DNA profile to guarantee parentage, all of which simply represents good animal husbandry and should intelligently be expected of all responsible breeders.
But more importantly, to obtain certification, a dog must pass a physical examination to determine that it displays physical soundness and acceptable breed type, as well as freedom from osteochondrodysplasia, a form of skeletal abnormality common in the Havanese breed and shown to be associated with cataracts, heart problems, and liver abnormalities in the breed. (To read more about this research conducted over several years by the Murphy lab at TAMU, and results of which were published in the Journal of Heredity in August 2007, please click here: Hereditary Evaluation of Multiple Developmental Abnormalities in the Havanese Dog Breed)
The association established in Havanese between osteochondrodysplasia (often referred to by breeders as CD and characterized by abnormally short, bowed or asymmetric legs) and heart and liver abnormalities, as well as cataracts, may appear unlikely at first blush, and probably explains in part why many breeders simply refuse to accept it. (Although the TAMU research project was funded in part by the Havanese Club of America, it is certainly interesting that there is absolutely no mention of its results on the HCA website. )
In a fascinating turn of events, however, two separate human studies published recently lend significant credibility to TAMU's discovery in Havanese.
One study established a link between leg length and liver disease in humans (http://jech.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/55/12/867), and a second established a clear correlation between leg length and incidence of heart disease(http://jech.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/62/1/48 ).
In both studies, short legs in proportion to overall body size were associated with increased risk.
Ain't science a wonderful thing?
The ability of breeders to utilize cutting-edge scientific research to make decisions in their own breeding programs which will ultimately result in healthier purebred pets is increasing daily, and is surely the best argument breeders have in the battle against the Animal Rights Movement's campaign to end the deliberate breeding of dogs. Those breeders who refuse to take advantage of it, for whatever reason, ultimately imperil the future rights of all of us to own and breed dogs.
Rather than be part of the problem, the members of HSDAA have chosen to be at the forefront of the solution.
In a climate where PETA has publicly stated that there "are no responsible breeders" and that purebred dogs are often selected for a certain "look" which predisposes them to serious health problems, the HSDAA has taken the opposite approach - breeders can, if they are willing, select for a physical type which predisposes the dog to a longer and healthier life.
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